EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY COMMISSION CHICAGO DISTRICT OFFICE CHICAGO, ILLINOIS and LOCAL 3504, AMERICAN FEDERATION OF GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES, AFL-CIO

United States of America

BEFORE THE FEDERAL SERVICE IMPASSES PANEL

In the Matter of

EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY

COMMISSION
CHICAGO DISTRICT OFFICE
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS

and

LOCAL 3504, AMERICAN FEDERATION OF
GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES, AFL-CIO

Case No. 03 FSIP 94

DECISION AND ORDER

Local 3504, American Federation of Government Employees, AFL-CIO
(Union), filed a request for assistance with the Federal Service Impasses Panel
(Panel) to consider a negotiation impasse under the Federal Service
Labor-Management Relations Statute (Statute), 5 U.S.C. § 7119,
between it and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Chicago District
Office, Chicago, Illinois (Employer).

Following investigation of the Union’s request for assistance,
which arose from negotiations over work hours, the Panel determined that the
dispute should be resolved through written submissions, including rebuttal
statements of position. The parties were advised that, after considering the
entire record, the Panel would take whatever action it deems appropriate to
resolve the dispute, which may include the issuance of a binding decision. The
parties’ final offers and written submissions, including rebuttal arguments,
were received pursuant to this procedure, and the Panel has now considered the
entire record.

BACKGROUND

The Employer’s
mission is to investigate charges of employment discrimination and enforce civil
rights laws; it attempts to conciliate employment discrimination disputes by
engaging in settlement efforts, and also it conducts outreach activities to
educate employers about their obligations under the law. The Union represents
approximately 85 professional and non-professional employees in the Chicago
District Office (CDO) who are part of a nationwide bargaining unit consisting of
approximately 1,800 employees.(1) Typical bargaining-unit positions in the CDO are
attorney, investigator, mediator, administrative judge, paralegal and
administrative assistant. The parties are covered by a master
collective-bargaining agreement which went into effect on September 2, 2002, for
a 3-year term.

Under a local agreement dating from 1996, most
employees start work between 7 and 9 a.m. Core hours (work hours when employees
must be on duty) for the CDO are 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Work schedule options
currently available to employees include a 5-4/9 compressed work schedule (CWS);(2)
flexitour(3) and a gliding schedule.(4) Employees who work a gliding schedule may
start as early as 6:30 a.m., even though doing so would permit them to leave at
3 p.m., ½ hour before core hours end. Also, the parties recently agreed to
permit certain employees to telecommute 1 day per week.

ISSUE AT IMPASSE

The parties disagree over whether all
bargaining-unit employees in the office should have the option of starting work
between the hours of 6:30 to 9 a.m., ½ hour earlier than the current 7 a.m.
starting time available to most employees.

POSITIONS OF THE PARTIES

1. The Union’s Position

The Union proposes that for a 6-month trial period, all
bargaining-unit employees in the office should be permitted the option of
starting work from 6:30 to 9 a.m. As with other work schedule alternatives, the
Employer retains the ability to remove an employee from a work schedule that
starts at 6:30 a.m.because of tardiness or poor performance. Allowing
employees the option of starting work earlier would cost the agency nothing to
implement; moreover, it would be a morale booster for employees and help the
agency to achieve its goal of becoming a model employer. Employees have earned
the trust of management with respect to their ability to accomplish work, so the
Employer has no reason to be skeptical that employees who begin work at 6:30
a.m. would be fully engaged in starting work at that time.

This earlier starting time would not be available to those who
work in "charge receipt"(5) because the parties already have agreed that
those employees would have work hours from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., to better serve
walk-in clientele and persons who call during regular business hours with
inquiries; thus, excluding employees assigned to charge receipt from working
earlier hours should ensure that service to members of the public is not
diminished. Moreover, since most interviews with members of the public are
scheduled for specific times, it may benefit some complainants, who work during
the day, to have the ability to meet with a staff person early in the morning
before going off to his or her job. Nationwide, EEOC offices are subject to a
hiring freeze and, like the CDO, many other district offices deal with large
workloads, walk-in clientele, and numerous telephone inquiries from the public;
yet, unlike the CDO, many of these offices permit their employees to start work
at 6:30 a.m. There is nothing unique about the CDO which should exempt it from
doing the same. A 6-month trial period would give the parties time to adequately
evaluate the impact, if any, of a 6:30 a.m. starting time on the CDO’s ability
to provide service to the public; at the end of the trial period, the parties
would have the option to terminate the 6:30 a.m. starting time, modify, or
retain it.

2. The Employer’s Position

The Employer proposes to retain the current starting hours which
permit employees not on a gliding schedule or in charge receipt to begin work
anywhere between 7 and 9 a.m. The majority of personnel in the office have
positions which require extensive contact with the public, primarily through
intake and investigation of charges filed against private, state, and local
government employers. The current starting timeband is more consistent with the
hours in which members of the public contact the office (8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.).
Retaining the current morning timeband would allow employees to be available
during those hours when members of the public are likely to either telephone or
come into the office. Moreover, the Employer’s proposal is consistent with the
current core hours of 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., which were negotiated locally with
the Union. The CDO is unique in that it receives more inquiries and takes more
charges than any other field office; because of this, and in order to better
cover the workload, staff work hours should conform more closely to the times
when members of the public are most likely to come to the office. Furthermore, a
starting time earlier than 7 a.m. only may serve to exacerbate the persistent
staff shortages in the office. Finally, the current starting time should remain
unchanged since employees already have a wide variety of work schedule options
available to them, including telecommuting.

CONCLUSION

Having carefully considered the evidence and
arguments presented on this issue, we are not fully persuaded by either parties’
position. The Union’s proposal, which would permit all employees except those
in charge receipt to start work as early as 6:30 a.m., appears to conflict with
the office core hours of 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. In this regard, an employee who
starts at 6:30 a.m. and works an 8-hour tour of duty would conclude his or her
workday at 3 p.m., 30 minutes before core hours end. The Employer’s position
that a starting time prior to 7 a.m. would adversely affect service to the
public, however, appears to be speculative, particularly in light of the fact
that: (1) employees in charge receipt already are required to maintain work
hours of 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.; (2) the Employer admits that "the busiest
time periods for the CDO are 8:30-ll:30 a.m. and in the afternoon from 1-2:30
p.m.;" and (3) it recently agreed to permit employees to telecommute.
Accordingly, we shall order the adoption of compromise wording that balances the
interests of both sides by permitting some employees to start their workday as
early as 6:30 a.m. while maximizing employee availability during peak times when
staff and clientele are most likely to interact. In addition, we believe a
6-month pilot period should be sufficient for either party to determine whether
the earlier starting time adversely affects service to the public, as the
Employer predicts.

ORDER

Pursuant to the authority vested in it by the
Federal Service Labor-Management Relations Statute, 5 U.S.C. § 7119, and
because of the failure of the parties to resolve their dispute during the course
of proceedings instituted under the Panel’s regulations, 5 C.F.R. §
2471.6(a)(2), the Federal Service Impasses Panel, under 5 C.F.R. § 2471.11(a)
of its regulations, hereby orders the following:

Employees who work a 5-4/9 CWS shall be
permitted, on their 9-hour days, to select starting times between the hours of
6:30 to 9 a.m. The earlier starting time option of 6:30 to 7 a.m. shall be in
effect for a 6-month trial period after which it may be unilaterally terminated
by either party. In that event, employees working under a CWS shall select
starting times between the hours of 7 to 9 a.m.

By direction of the Panel.

H. Joseph Schimansky
Executive Director

August 20, 2003
Washington, D.C.

1.
The Union also represents six other Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) offices;
the CDO is the largest office represented by the Union.